The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited Smart Ideas funded projects

This proposal will enable development of new plant-based bioherbicides that will facilitate more consumer- and environmentally-friendly food production systems and management of the natural estate. We will achieve this by building from bioactive compound discoveries inspired by our research on the way in which the liverwort group of plants uses unique biochemistry to cope with environmental stresses and engineer their ecosystems. Our team combines researchers from Plant  Food Research, University of Otago, Monash University, and Technical University of Vienna. It includes individuals who helped establish the strong international bryophyte research capacity and international leaders in plant bioactive metabolites. Herbicides contribute NZ$3–9 billion annually to New Zealand agriculture, and identifying new plant-sourced bioherbicides with novel modes of action is a priority for our land-based industries to advance sustainability and improve product competitiveness.

Most fruit crops spoil rapidly upon reaching maturity if not harvested before ripening commences. This results in narrow harvest windows, logistical strains, limited market flexibility and fruit waste. Our Smart Idea is to prevent rapid spoilage of these highly perishable fruit crops by transferring to them the ripening mechanism of avocado, which remarkably can tree-store its fruit for many months. Extending the window of optimum maturity for harvest would substantially reduce crop losses and improve infrastructure and labour scaling problems that critically limit expansion of NZ’s fruit export industry. We recently found that avocados exhibit on-plant storage because the unpicked fruit has a novel mechanism that suppresses the onset of ripening on the tree. Our ambitious Smart Idea will confirm this by transferring this on-plant storage mechanism to tomatoes as an exemplar for how we provide other crops with this desirable trait. This step-change knowledge will in future be used to direct regulatory-acceptable approaches to transfer the trait to other perishable crops to greatly extend their harvest windows. Our national and international team are experts in all aspects of the work proposed and are highly connected with industry to both guide and speed up the eventual transfer of this technology to industry.

Plant pests and pathogens, such as bacteria, fungi and insects, destroy approximately 40% of global crop production, causing the loss of hundreds of millions of tons of food annually. This not only threatens global food security but also costs the global economy an estimated NZ$220B annually. In Aotearoa-NZ, plant production systems heavily depend on chemical crop protection. However, growing resistance to pesticides and fungicides, combined with global pressure to reduce chemical use and the increasing threat of climate change-driven pests, makes this approach unsustainable. The key to addressing pest and disease threats in crops is to develop durable, in-built resistance. Traditional breeding methods take years to identify resistance traits. Our project uses innovative proteomic strategies to rapidly identify novel resistance proteins, activating and harnessing defence networks in fruit crops. This approach will greatly enhance crop resilience against a wide variety of pests and pathogens, offering a more sustainable solution to biotic threats. It also enables adaptation across a broad range of crop species, providing several key benefits: -More durable resistance: Identification of multiple resistance mechanisms enhances long-term benefits and durability while reducing pre-breeding crossing requirements, especially when combined with fast-breeding technologies that can shorten the breeding cycle by up to 80%. -Cost and resource efficiency: Streamlined genetic marker development, increasing efficiency and reducing costs. -Expanded knowledge: Identification of entire defence protein complexes at once, providing deeper insights that allow us to predict and improve resistance durability. Our research team brings together leading experts from Aotearoa-NZ and around the world, specialising in bioinformatics, AI modelling, molecular biology, plant cell biology, effector biology and plant immunity and breeding. This diverse expertise allows us to take an integrated approach to futureproofing crop protection.

This project will test water-soluble, plant-based compounds (priming agents) that can be applied ‘on-demand’ in established fruit-tree plantings to increase their tolerance to drought. There are currently no commercialised priming agents for drought control in fruit trees in New Zealand. We use apples as our model crop because, globally, apple quality and yield in both current and subsequent growing seasons are severely affected by drought. Climate modelling predicts increasing drought in major apple growing regions of New Zealand (e.g. Hawke’s Bay and Tasman). With trees taking at least 7 years to reach full production, the apple industry faces a significant recovery period should existing plantings suffer severe drought. Priming agents could mitigate drought damage in existing plantings and avoid the need for new plantings. Over 3 years, plant physiological data will be collected, along with gene expression and biochemical data, following application of three priming agents (and combinations thereof): in seedlings (Year 1), on two apple rootstocks (Year 2), and on grafted plants (Year 3).

These data will be used to:

• Select the priming agent(s) that activate the greatest drought tolerance
• Understand the timing and duration of the response to drought stress
• Advance mechanistic understanding of drought tolerance.

By the end of Year 3, priming agents and protocols to optimise their use will be ready for trialing in commercial apple orchards. Commercialisation is expected within a few years after orchard trials and will be extended into other crops, e.g. stonefruit, winegrapes and kiwifruit. This represents a faster solution to drought stress than selection of new drought-resistant cultivars or rootstocks (typically 10-20 years).

Soil structural degradation is a significant threat to both NZ and global ecosystems. This degradation has profound consequences, including substantial losses in production, soil erosion, nutrient loss, and GHG emissions, costing NZ billions annually. Urgent action is required to manage soil vulnerability amid changing landuse and climate, and to identify areas requiring immediate sustainable soil management practices.

Current methods for assessing soil vulnerability rely on traditional, non-functional properties. These provide inadequate predictions for soil ecosystem services like plant production and GHG mitigation. Our research aims to fundamentally alter this approach by focusing on the dynamic functional properties of soil structure. We hypothesise that soil vulnerability assessment based on dynamic functional properties will bridge the gaps between landuse pressures, climate, and ecosystem services. Through experimentation and modelling, we will evaluate how dynamic functional properties respond to compaction and its impact on crop production and N2O emissions. We will develop predictive models for soil vulnerability assessment parameterised by easily measurable soil properties.

Our team comprises experts in soil science, environmental science, biophysical modelling, and crop production. The team is uniquely positioned to tackle this challenge. Through collaboration with an Advisory Panel representing industry, grower entities, government stakeholders, and Māori, we will develop an outcomes-focused soil management framework by integrating new knowledge and soil vulnerability. This framework, continuously enriched by new knowledge from the science team and practical insights from the panel, will guide future research directions. This will lead to recalibration of soil-based tools like S-map and APSIM. By shifting from a one-size-fits-all approach to a dynamic soil management framework, our research will benefit growers, land stewards, policymakers, and Māori stakeholders, supporting a sustainable future for NZ's economy, environment, and society.

Worldwide, feral cats are responsible for one-third of island bird, mammal, and reptile extinctions. In Aotearoa-NZ our wildlife are particularly vulnerable, with this ‘super-predator’ responsible for local extinction of over 70 species. New, smart AI-driven surveillance devices or traps can be designed to specifically target feral cats but there are no effective lures available to attract these naturally cautious animals to control tools. This programme will determine if silvervine, a kiwifruit species, which is known to attract cats, can provide an effective and sustainable lure to solve this issue.

This Smart Idea is novel in that it combines unique plant chemistry with animal behaviour, engineering and iwi-led efforts for predator control. Unlike current lures, this lure is not food-based, so will attract feral cats even when food is plentiful. It is both non-toxic and highly species-specific. By programme end, diverse experts in their research areas will have demonstrated the efficacy of a cat-specific lure for integration into novel AI-surveillance and control devices to be used by conservation and iwi groups across Aotearoa-NZ, and with huge potential for international uptake.

With programme success, the group will have a prototype cost-effective, long-lasting, and species-specific lure. If not (owing, for example, to cost or instability of the compounds), we will still have produced in-depth information on cat behaviour and alternative lure efficacy and have deepened relationships with hapū. Benefit and impact will be delivered to the conservation estate, agriculture (a reduction in toxoplasmosis, the disease spread by feral cats), and the public discourse on how to approach feral cat control.

Pāua are a vital part of Aotearoa-NZ’s cultural identity, valued as a food for both domestic and export markets, and for its decorative shell. However, pāua stocks are dwindling and the sustainability of pāua fisheries is paramount. Until now, the challenge of accurately measuring pāua age has hindered effective management.

This research project will enable pāua age determination by understanding the changes to DNA associated with aging in pāua. Recent breakthroughs in DNA analysis, specifically methylation, will be used to develop a DNA-based clock that can age pāua. This DNA methylation analysis has been identified in vertebrates, but will be a novel approach for aging shellfish.

This innovative approach holds promise for transforming pāua fisheries management and conservation efforts. By accurately assessing age, we can enhance our understanding of stock resilience, set sustainable limits, and ensure the long-term viability of pāua populations. Our collaborative initiative brings together scientists, industry experts, Māori, and fisheries modellers, harnessing collective expertise to construct this innovative tool.

Through this programme, Aotearoa-NZ will reaffirm its commitment to sustainable fisheries management, solidifying its position as a global leader in evidence-based management and marine conservation. By making informed decisions grounded in sound science, we safeguard our oceans for future generations while advancing our economic, cultural, and environmental objectives.

In the natural environment, plants form partnerships with microorganisms. Collectively, the microorganisms are termed the plant microbiome. The plant microbiome can have a significant effect on the growth and health of plants.

Grapevine trunk disease (GTD) is one of the most destructive diseases of grapevines, decreasing their yield and longevity. It is caused by a complex group of fungi that can remain latent in the plant for many years before they cause symptoms. There are no resistant varieties of grapevines nor curative treatments available to growers. Mitigation is solely by pruning wound protection, sanitation and re-trunking. Currently this problem causes $137M p.a. losses in Aotearoa-NZ and €1.5B globally.

Our preliminary work has demonstrated that individual grapevines thriving in areas of high GTD have a unique microbiome. We will use our understanding of the grapevine and its microbiome to partner grapevines with a customised, gain-of-function microbiome to attain GTD-resistance in a sustainable manner.

A multidisciplinary collaborative team of experts from China, USA and Aotearoa-NZ will share, develop and enhance research efforts to develop a world-first 'artificial egg' prototype that mimics an insect egg, providing a novel way to rear egg parasitoids in vitro. Egg parasitoids lay their eggs insect other insects’ eggs, thereby killing the host. They are natural enemies of insect pests and can be used to reduce or eradicate such pests. The successful development of our technology will provide a cheaper, more efficient and sustainable means for mass producing egg parasitoids to use against invasive pest insects and will help accelerate the reduction/elimination of pesticide use. We will use the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) and the Samurai wasp as our model system. This host-parasitoid system is of global importance and of high biosecurity relevance to Aotearoa-NZ.

We will use state-of-the-art imaging, analytical biochemistry and nano-engineering methods to determine the nutrient content profile, eggshell chemical composition and surface characteristics of BMSB eggs. With this information, we will recreate and encapsulate artificial BMSB eggs in biomaterials and use these artificial eggs to mass rear Samurai wasps in the laboratory.

The findings of our project will lead to significant advances in our understanding of in vitro rearing of egg parasitoids and the use of artificial host eggs to mass rear biological control agents as part of an integrated pest management approach. This project will also establish enduring collaborations between the three participating countries. The information and technology platform generated by this project is also expected to be transferable to a range of egg parasitoids of other potential biosecurity threats to Aotearoa-NZ’s primary industries and native state.

Our proof-of-concept Smart Idea will provide a novel, species-specific solution to the redback spider problem. Invasive Australian redback spiders pose a serious health risk to humans and an extinction threat to native fauna in Aotearoa-NZ. Current manual-based control tools are not working and precious taonga, such as the critically endangered Cromwell chafer beetle, will soon be lost to redback spiders unless something is done.

We will identify the long-range sex pheromone of the redback spiders, then develop a dispenser and trapping system to ‘lure and kill’ them. Very few spider pheromones have been identified worldwide and their use as pest management tools has not been reported, so this ambitious project will be a world first. The ‘lure and kill’ technique will be particularly effective since redback males can only mate once because of their ritualised suicide during copulation (the female eats them), hence every male attracted to the trap represents a potential batch of spiderlings prevented. Preliminary work by our team and others has shown that the pheromone compounds are likely a mixture of volatile degradation products from compounds on the virgin female silk.

To achieve these results will require the combined skills of Aotearoa-NZ’s leading invertebrate pheromone laboratory working in conjunction with Aotearoa-NZ’s eminent spider authority, in collaboration with Ngāi Tahu and DOC. Using a multidisciplinary approach comprising microchemical analysis, chemical synthesis, behavioural bioassays, dispenser/trap design and field trapping trials, our team will develop a tool that will selectively remove redback spiders from a complex, fragile environment containing critically endangered taonga. This research will save precious taonga from extinction, increase science capability in Aotearoa-NZ and provide a new control technology to support future invasive spider eradications here and overseas.

Our novel idea is to deter insect pests from eating crops by combining predatory bat ultrasounds to ‘push’ insects away from crops (putting speakers in fields), with smells that insects find attractive to ‘pull’ them away from crops (putting the scents adjacent to fields). In a world first, we will decipher how insects make decisions when faced with deterrents and attractants at the same time. This new knowledge will be useful beyond the project, in helping develop new ways of managing insect pests.

Our team from Plant & Food Research, Otago University, Japan, Australia and New Caledonia brings together skills in bioacoustics to study ultrasounds, neurophysiology to study insect brain responses, chemical ecology to understand insect attractants, technology to broadcast bat calls, and access to insects and sites for field trials. The Department of Conservation will work with our team and ensure our technology is deployed only in areas where endemic bats are not present. Opportunity is provided for 2 Māori students to develop their research skills and contribute towards securing cultural and social licence for our project.

The benefits from our new approach will be a reduction in agrichemical use to control insect pests, reduction of crop losses, and maintenance of markets for our primary products in the face of growing concerns about agrichemical usage. Our novel platform to decipher insects’ sensory perceptions will facilitate the screening and future development of tools to control present and future threats, protecting Aotearoa-NZ from insects that can harm our economy and the environment.

The New Zealand wine industry is a major contributor to our export earnings, a significant regional employer and a flagship industry for our international market image. The ‘Smart, adaptive rootstock project’ is aimed at advancing industry sustainability goals and increasing our collective respect for kaitiakitanga through the innovative use of novel grape rootstock varieties.

New Zealand wine grapes are typically grafted onto a rootstock to provide protection against phylloxera, a root pest which is found in all our grape-growing regions. The rootstocks used for this were developed from breeding efforts in Europe in the 1880s, a time when European viticulturists were facing catastrophic losses because of the arrival of this pest from America. Scientists at Plant & Food Research and the Bragato Research Institute have been researching the role that rootstocks play in controlling other insects as well, in particular sap-sucking insects that transmit damaging viruses throughout the vineyard. They’ve noted that grapes form a range of unique molecules that act as insect feeding-deterrents, and these circulate throughout the plant body. This funded research proposal aims to chemically identify these molecules, establish how and where they are produced and how much is needed in the plant to fully deter sap-sucking insects. The long-term aim is to develop new rootstocks for use in New Zealand that control not only phylloxera infestation, but many other insects and diseases as well. Using rootstocks for this purpose will reduce agricultural spray applications, reduce production costs, and extend the productive life of our commercial vineyards well into the future.

Beekeeping practices were developed to support honey production and have remained relatively unchanged since the advent of the ‘modern’ beehive in the 1850s. In contrast, there have been tremendous changes during that time in how the crops that honeybees pollinate are managed. This has led to tensions for beekeepers and growers, as beekeepers have to decide if they will dedicate their colonies to honey production or pollination each year.

We believe we have discovered a management strategy that will allow beekeepers to retain their large, mature colonies for honey production and still produce specialised pollination colonies. This strategy intends to increase productivity, reduce operating costs, and enable strategic decision-making for beekeepers, leading to increased availability of honeybees for crop pollination.

We aim to understand how to initiate and maintain the time point in the honeybee colony’s life cycle when they are focused on establishing a new nest. We believe that during this time more worker bees focus on foraging for nectar and pollen rather than other jobs that they may otherwise do inside the hive. Our resulting ‘bee’spoke pollination colonies will be lightweight and allow for better placement of bees in orchards, to further improve pollination of fruits and seeds.

We are collaborating with international experts at Texas A&M University, and partnering with iwi and Māori-owned businesses to weave mātauranga Māori and Western

science together for results that are accessible and beneficial for all Aotearoa and of interest globally.

Crop yields rely on flower numbers and quality, and these historically have been shown to vary according to climate. With predicted climate change, this will be exacerbated: flower numbers will be more inconsistent between seasons and current mitigation techniques (e.g. labour and chemicals) will become increasingly unsustainable, making profitable and sustainable crop yields a challenge for growers. Using our unique kiwifruit model system to study flower abortion/retention, we will identify unknown regulators of flower number and corresponding metabolic pathways that could be used to ensure high crop yields. We will develop novel tools to select new cultivars with the desired flower number and yield in kiwifruit, and these could then be translated to other perennial crops, such as avocado, citrus, grape and apple. Our science team includes experts in flower biology, plant signalling and metabolism, including leading scientists from three international labs and local students. Our advisory group will engage with the horticulture industry, including Māori growers, to set the path for future development and uptake of this knowledge.

Imagine a world without bees. Insect-pollinators contribute to more than one-third of the food we eat, and our dependence on insect-pollinated plants is growing. Meanwhile, wild pollinators are declining, placing strain on managed pollinators to fill the gap. Yet these insect-pollinators face existential threats from disease, over- population and changing climates. We imagine NZ transforming global pollination services, building a diverse agritech export-sector with our research on precision autonomous-pollination providing an intelligent alternative to insect-pollinators. Contact us at Plant and Food Research if you would like to be involved.